Lullaby
by Luminara
Summary: A family can be a strange thing.
1. Sing you to Sleep

Title: Lullaby  
Author: Emily Knight  
Rating: G  
Spoilers/Season: Set right after Singularity. No spoilers.  
Pairing: None  
Notes: Yet another Cassie fic from me. Are we surprised?  
Feedback: lady(at)alias-grace(dot)com  
Disclaimer: Not mine. All I own are my Plot Goa'ulds.  
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"Rockaby baby, in the tree tops.  
When the wind blows, the cradle will rock.  
"When the bow breaks, the cradle will fall.  
And down will come baby, cradle and all."  
  
It was a very sweet song. A good lullaby. And mindnumbingly cute. Or it would have been, if Sam and Janet hadn't been attempting to hold back guffaws while watching the scene in the living room.   
  
The aforementioned scene involved one very unconscious Air Force Colonel and one equally out of it archaeologist/linguist on the Fraiser's sofa, Janet's 11 year old adopted daughter softly singing while leaning over the back of the couch and petting O'Neill's hair. And a Jaffa sitting on a nearby chair dividing his attention between a Star Trek rerun and his teammates.  
  
Still trying to hold back laughter, the two women retreated back to the kitchen. As the door swung shut, they collapsed at the table and rocked back and forth with laughter. "Oh god, what I wouldn't do for a camera right now." Sam Carter managed to say, as the laughter subsided.  
  
"Now, Sam, is blackmailing your CO really a good idea?" Janet grinned.  
  
"No, but putting the picture of my two best friends being sung to sleep by Cassie would be great to hang up in my locker... And if the other members of the SGC happen to see it, then all the better." Sam winked at her friend as both started giggling again.  
  
"Well, if that's all..." Janet got up and walked purposefully over to the coat closet at the other end of the room and pulled out a Polaroid camera. "Here, knock yourself out. Just don't get me knocked out as well."  
  
Sam took the camera and snuck back into the living room, earning a look from Teal'c, but otherwise not disturbing the occupants of the room. Cassie had moved from behind the couch and curled herself up between Daniel and Jack and now seemed to be asleep.  
  
"Aww, that is so cute." Janet whispered as Sam took a couple pictures. Teal'c didn't ask any questions, just raised an eyebrow in an expression that Sam had privately dubbed the 'humans are so weird' look. Sam nodded at him and he went back to watching The Next Generation as the women once again left the room.  
  
Back in the kitchen, as Sam waved the pictures around, waiting for them to develop, Janet took a bottle of wine from the fridge and poured two glasses. She sat them on the table and craned her neck to look at the still semi-developed pictures.  
  
"Think I could have one of those, Sam?" she asked.  
  
"Yeah. That's why I took two. Going to put it up on the fridge?" Sam smiled as she regarded the Fraisers' fridge, which was already covered from top to bottom in pictures, drawings and notes.  
  
"No, actually, I'm going to start a scrapbook for Cassie. I can't give her back her first 11 years, but I can make sure that her future ones are remembered." She took the picture from Sam and regarded it with a mixed look on her face.   
  
Sam moved to stand behind Janet's chair and put her hands on her shoulders. "Janet, you are going to make a wonderful mother. You and Cassie are perfect for each other." She held back the note of sadness in her voice, knowing that Janet didn't need to know her own issues with the situation.  
  
"I hope so."   
  
"No. You know so." Sam leaned down and gave her friend a hug. "You are a wonderful woman, Janet Fraiser. You take care of all the base personnel as if they're your own children. It's about time you put your considerable talents to raising one of your own. And anyway, take a look around. You don't have to do it alone. You have SG-1 here to help you."  
  
"Oh dear lord. I'm getting parenting help from a team that manages to get themselves injured, captured, or 'killed' on nearly every mission." Janet rolled her eyes.  
  
"Exactly! If we've managed to stay alive this long, we have to be doing something right." Sam grinned and looked at her empty wine glass. "Anyway, I think I've had enough. Probably time to get back to the base."  
  
Janet looked up at her. "I don't think so, Samantha Carter. The only one of you in any state to drive is Teal'c, and I know for a fact that he doesn't have his license. Now Jack and Daniel seem quite content where they are, and Teal'c is fine anywhere. You can take the guestroom. Now scoot." Sam reflected that it was rather frightening how fast Janet could go from wallowing in self doubt to the confident caregiver. Oh yeah, she was going to be a great mom.  
  
"Okay. I know better than to argue with my doctor. But only if you go to sleep as well. No staying up and fussing over Cassie or the boys." Sam matched her tone for tone.  
  
"Fine." Janet put the glasses in the sink and then led Sam through the living room, stopping briefly to throw a blanket over 'the boys' and to wish good night to Teal'c. She then showed Sam to her room and retreated into her own. Janet changed into a tee and boxers and happily climbed into bed. It had been a long day. The last thing she heard before falling asleep was the sound of footsteps entering her room and then the voice of Sam, "When the bow breaks, the cradle will fall..." she smiled as she felt Sam curl up next to her. "You're not alone, Janet.. You're never alone."  
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Finis 


	2. Good Morning, Darlin'

Notes: Yes, you are going to get to see the SGC's reaction to the couch scene, but probably not for another few chapters. And I am still in desperate need of a beta.  
  
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Jack was a creature of habit, despite the best efforts of the universe. When he was on leave, he left. He left the mountain, he left Colorado Springs, he left the state. he got as far asway as possible.   
Usually 'forgetting' to take his cell phone. In short, leave was about Minnesota, and fishing and only being bothered by snakes of the non-parasitic variety. In his experience up to now, leave was not about waking up on an unfamiliar couch with two heads asleep on his chest. But the feeling was so familiar, that he wasn't startled by it. "Charlie, Sarah." he whispered. He knew very well that it was neither his ex wife nor his son on his lap, but he kept his eyes closed for a few more seconds savouring the feeling.   
Bringing himself back to reality, he opened his eyes and looked down to see who the two occupants were. He had to hold back a snort when replacing the mental picture of the blonde head of his ex-wife was the very messy hair of an archaeologist. Jack hoped Daniel didn't drool in his sleep. It would be hard enough to get past the gleeful look on Sam's face when she saw this as it was.   
"Danny boy. Wake up." he gave the younger man a soft shake.   
"Honey, can't I sleep just a little bit more?" Now Jack really had to hold back a choking laugh.  
"No, darlin', you can't. Now get yourself into the kitchen and cook me some breakfast, woman."  
That was apparently enough to wake him up and Daniel looked up at Jack with a foggy and confused expression. "Jack? Did you just call me woman?"  
"Nothing, Daniel. You were talking in your sleep."  
"Oh." Daniel shook his head a little and looked around for his glasses, finding them next to him, thankfully uncrushed.   
"Well, aren't you the cute family." Jack groaned. Carter was on the stairs, looking gleeful. Very gleeful. "Don't worry. Don't ask, don't tell. I won't tell."   
Jack had been trying to figure out how to get through his 2IC's morning... grumbliness. Apparently he had found a solution. But team efficiency or not, he wasn't going to make a habit out of sleeping with Daniel.  
"So, everyone awake?" Doc Fraiser poked her head out of the kitchen.  
Taking the opportunity to switch the focus from himself, Jack replied. "Well, everyone but Cassie. She seems to be a very sound sleeper." he shifted and tried to wake the second sleeper, but she just settled herself again.  
"Oh, she is. She could sleep through a freight train. But luckily, I know the magic words to wake her up. Cassie! Pancakes!" The small girl was off the couch like a shot.   
"Yay, pancakes! What kind, mom? Can we have chocolate chips? Pleeeease?" Cassie turned pleading eyes on Dr. Fraiser and Jack had to smile. It wasn't often he saw the petite doctor get taken down. But it was obvious that she was putty in the hands of her adopted doctor. And it probably didn't help that Daniel and Sam were turning their own pleading look on her. The three pairs of big blue eyes was enough to turn anyone's heart.  
Jack rolled his eyes. It was time to put a stop to this. "Doc, I am going to make it a command that we have chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast." Well, he had to admit that he liked chocolate chip pancakes. And he had had it on good authority that the doc's cooking was not to be missed.  
"Actually, sir, food falls under the designation of health, so you can't order me to do anything. Plus, we have the problem that there isn't a single chocolate chip in the house."   
"Well, that's easily enough solved." Jack concluded. "We'll just send Carter to get some."  
"Sounds good to me." Janet agreed.  
"Actually, that won't work." Sam decided to step in before she was assigned to do a full shopping trip for all of the SGC.  
"Why not, Carter? Don't know where the grocery store is? I mean, I know you live on commissary coffee, fruit loops and jello, but you have to have eaten at home at some point in the past year."  
"Chinese carry-out." Carter grinned perkily at him. "But that's not the reason that I can't go. Sir, you drove here. I don't have my car."   
"Okaaaay." Jack sighed. If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself. "Teal'c, ever been to a grocery store before?" he asked the Jaffa, who was sitting on the floor playing with Cassie's dog.  
"No, I have not, O'Neill. If it is something that would increase my understanding of your world, I should very much like to." he said solemnly.  
"Okay, Carter, Daniel, you two are going to stay here. Teal'c, you're with me. Move out." Maybe this enforced leave was a good thing.  
"I wanna go too! We didn't have grocery stores in Toronto!" Cassie had gotten the rules of the game down, but was still a bit hazy on the details of what Toronto was like.   
"The Colonel knows that you aren't allowed to buy hershey bars, chocolate ice cream, oreos, or Cocoa puffs." she appeared to be going down a mental checklist. Jack hoped that he remembered all of this. And that even if he did, he hoped he'd be able to handle Cassie. No, he was a seasoned Air Force Colonel. He could deal with an 11 year old girl. He glanced over at Teal'c, who was looking intrigued. And an inquisitive Jaffa, he mentally added.  
"Okay, Cassie, you're with me too." he began to walk out of the room.  
"Actually, Colonel, she should change. Bunny pjs and slippers aren't exactly the social norm for grocery stores." Jack was glad that Janet was the mom, as he would never have been able to remember all these little things. He watched as Cassie ran out of the room. This was going to be an *interesting* day.  
  
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Next chapter:   
Colonel O'Neill takes on Super Wal-Mart while Teal'c learns the true power of Earth - Soccer moms. 


End file.
